when do we see consultants?

hi it's me again! Well we have just gotten through another bad phase and are glad to be out of the other side! My son has to go back for another chest x-ray in a month's time to check on things but the pneumonia and asthma have cleared up and all is under control for now.

When at the hospital the two docs I saw asked which consultant he normally sees about his asthma (neither of them showed much interest or knowledge about his asthma but just dealt with the pneumonia). I said that we have never seen a consultant about his asthma & they surprised. Then I saw our asthma nurse and mentioned it to her but she didn't really comment about it. What is normal for children? Do they only ever see asthma nurses, or do they have to have severe asthma to be referred to a consultant? Should I ask to have him referred or do i just keep plodding along with the nurse and almost monthly attacks and preds and antibiotics.

Appreciate any thoughts again! THANK YOU.

[Hidden]

ask for a referal

it's very hard dealing with poorly children and take a lot of energy, however worth getting 'experts' involved, poosibly to support you that everything that can be is being done, or to get you on the right track

good luck,

I'm doing the very same for my daughter, starting with gp on monday morning!

[Hidden]

hi ask to see a consultant it took me over a year to get our gp to refer us!now we see her every 12 weeks and asthma nurse in between.i have found it a great support and help.

[Hidden]

thank you for your advice. So I have to ask my GP to refer us or can I ask the asthma nurse? Do you think I am over-reacting? I was just wondering whether the GPs prefer to wait longer or for something more serious to happen before they refer. My son has battled asthma since last summer and has had hospital admissions and 4 lots of pred and many attacks... in my opinion it would be good to see a consultant but maybe he's not ill enough in their opinion? I always feel so intimidated by the doctors!

[Hidden]

I would say if a little one having monthly attacks, pred and hospital admissions you should be entitled to see a consultant. It seems a bit unusual as normally when a child admitted they get allocated to whatever consultant is on that week, most kids might not need hospital again so its just a consultants name on paper but if your son been admitted a few times he should have been followed up.

My son was referred to Rbh by our local when he was 3 as he had 9 admissions in as many months. It may be worth you asking GP for referal. good luck

J

[Hidden]

My son is 3 and has been hospitalised approx 10 times in the last 1 and a half years. The first year, the attacks were every 3 months, but in the last 6 months they have become monthly visits! My son has only just been referred to a consultant and we are just waiting for the appointment to come through!

It depends on where you live aswell I believe as every trust and medical proffesional react differently.

Good Luck

[Hidden]

Hi, my 3 don't see a consultant, just the asthma nurse. I know the nurse recently asked out gp to refer one of the boys as his asthma was not under controll with the max steriod inhaler for his age but gp said would rather see if things settle down first. Since then he has been given singulair by different gp, so i've to go back when they run out. I think that our gp at least would rather try get the asthma under controll than refer. I think that if the gp/nurse cant offer you any other medications to get it under controll then they should refer him.

[Hidden]

consultants

Hi,

My little boy, Alfie (now 6) was seen by a consultant once he started being admitted to hospital. Initially we saw the local consultant but once he had a transfer to picu in london it was the respiratory consultant that saw him and continues to see him at least every 2-3 months. We have open access so if things get really bad we can bypass gp and get to help fast. Tho when he crashes A&E is the best route for stabilising him. You should ask for a referral because you need to get on top of things if possible.

Margot x.

[Hidden]

Ayshea sees her consultant about once a month or at the very least once every couple of months, she is on omalizumab so she is very closley watched and she is in HDU an awful lot and had loads of hospital admissions with brittle asthma so I guess they need to keep an eye on her as they are really worried that she is going to have a fatal attack. I would keep on for a consultant as through my own experiences it has proved invaluable. I found that before she saw a consultant I felt like I was getting nowhere, she would have an attack, a hospital admission, home again and back round to having another attack, at least now, if i have any problems i can talk to people who specialise in her condition and i feel like there are so many more options availiable.

Mel